Face Down
by leasha
Summary: DISCONTINUED! AU. What would happen if Bella had dated Mike instead of Edward? What if he started beating her, but she still stayed with him? What would happen if 1 day she has to chose between Mike & Edward? Full summary on profile.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I don't own Twilight or New Moon or the characters in them. I own this idea though.

I've had this idea set in my head for awhile now and I've finally had time to write it. This was going to be a really long one-shot, but it probably would have sucked so instead it's going to be like 6 chapters or something. I'm not sure if I'm going to finish, it depends on what people think. People might be OOC, but you have to remember that is instead of Twilight. Review and enjoy!

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On my first day at Forks High, I met Mike. I remember thinking that he was cute, but not hot. I remember him asking me out and me turning him down, but after a while he grew on me. We had been dating for 5 months before he hit me, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I never loved him, but I couldn't leave him either. My therapist said that it was good to write out my feelings, and that I would get over this. I was just glad that the nightmare was over. She promised me that she would never read this, so I feel comfortable writing everything down. Some of the stuff in here would make her think I was losing it, but I'm not. Everything in here is true. I know everyone wants to know what happened, so here's my story.

……..

My dad, Charlie, picked me up from the airport and gave me an awkward hug.

"I'm glad your home again, Bells." He said gruffly.

"Me too, dad." I said, I wasn't that happy but I didn't want to hurt his feelings. The drive home was quiet, neither one of us talked much. When we pulled up to the house I noticed an old, red truck parked in the driveway. "Whose truck is that?"

"It's yours Bella. You told me you needed a car and I saw this and thought it would be good for you." He said as I inspected the car. It was almost like love at first sight, only it was a car that I liked.

"Wow dad, thank you!" I said giving him a hug.

"Yeah, well…" he said trailing off. We walked into the house and put my bags on the floor.

"I'm gonna go unpack." I said. I headed upstairs to my room. It was exactly the same as it had been when I was a baby. It only took me 30 minutes to unpack. I only had two bags, and there wasn't much in them. I headed back downstairs and found Charlie sitting on the couch, watching some sports game. "What's for dinner?"

"I'm not sure; I'll start cooking in a while." He said.

Dinner was uneventful. Charlie made grilled cheese and soup from a can. I asked Charlie if I could take over dinner responsibilities and he warily agreed. After dinner I went upstairs and took a shower. The bathroom was small and it was the only one. I had never liked sharing a bathroom, so it was going to be awkward for me. When I was done, I went downstairs and said goodnight to Charlie. I went back to my room and crawled into bed. It took me forever to sleep with the constant sound of the rain and wind. That night, I cried myself to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to see that Charlie had already left for work. He left me a note saying that he didn't get off until six and wished me good luck. I quickly got changed and grabbed a granola bar. I drove to the school only getting lost a few times. I pulled into the parking lot and headed into the front office. The lady behind the desk handed me my schedule and wished me luck. I smiled politely and headed to my first class. The rest of the morning passed in a blur.

In English I met a boy named Mike, who seemed nice and a bit annoying. I ended up eating lunch with a girl named Jessica and her friends. The boy named Mike smiled at me and waved us over to his table. I ended up sitting next to him with Jessica on his other side. I found out that he wasn't as annoying as I had thought and we ended up talking the entire lunch period. During that whole time I was aware of someone watching us. I could feel their eyes on my back. I walked with Mike and a girl named Angela, who was shy, to our next class which was Biology. I ended up sitting next a boy with bronze hair, who was unnaturally pale and beautiful. During the entire period he sat as far away from me as he could. Once class ended he flew out the door.

"What did you do to him?" Mike asked me as we walked to Gym.

"Nothing, I didn't say a word. Who was he?"

"That's Edward Cullen, he's a strange guy, and so is his entire family. They keep to themselves." Mike said.

Thankfully I didn't have to do Gym, so I got to watch everyone run around and play games. On my way to my car, I noticed Edward arguing with a petite black haired girl.

"I almost lost control, Alice. I almost bit her." He said in a musical voice.

"You're lucky you didn't, she's the chief's daughter. We'll talk about this later." She said and danced off. Edward turned to glare at me as I hurried along to my car.

The following weeks passed quickly, the same thing happened everyday. I would sit next to Mike and talk during lunch and during Biology Edward would sit at the end of the table. After being in Forks for a month, Mike asked me out.

"Hey Bella, do you, uh, have any plans for Friday?" Mike asked, looking hopeful.

"I'm not sure. Why?" I asked.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go on a, uh, date." He said.

"I'm sorry Mike, but I'm going to be busy." I said, trying to reject him, as nicely as possible. The following week, he asked me again.

"Hey Bella, do you want to go see a movie with me on Friday?" He asked, nervous again.

"Sure. Why not?" I said and smiled. After that, Mike and I were inseparable. I spent all of my free time with him. But one day, things changed.

_Hey, girl, you know you drive me crazy  
one look puts the rhythm in my hand.  
Still I'll never understand why you hang around  
I see what's going down._

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Ok, so I'm not sure I like this. It's pretty short too. It's up to you guys if I should continue or not. I might just finish it for myself and not post it but I'm not sure. The next chapter is when it gets better and all of the drama starts!

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

- Alicia


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- I don't own Twilight or New Moon.

Sorry for the delay everyone, but I was busy and things were going on. My editor was also on a school trip. If I forgot to mention the lyrics that are in all of this story are by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. This is when everything starts to get good. Thanks for all of the reviews! Also thanks to Talia (Talz16) for editing this and making it better. I just realized that some things don't match up. So let's just say that Bella started her junior year in Forks, so that the story will make more sense. Here's chapter 6! So review and enjoy!

_

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_

_Cover up with makeup in the mirror  
tell yourself, it's never gonna happen again  
you cry alone and then he swears he loves you._

I woke up on Thursday morning, to see that it was raining. I slowly got out of my bed and headed to the bathroom. I stripped down and got into the hot water. I slowly scrubbed my head with my strawberry shampoo. When I was done, I climbed out of the shower and slowly got dressed. I headed into my room and grabbed my backpack and looked at the clock. I realized that I was running late, so I flew down the stairs. I headed into the kitchen, grabbed a granola bar and headed outside. I locked the front door and headed towards Mike's car. I climbed inside the car and Mike took off.

"Hey babe." He said grabbing my hand.

"Hi sweetie." I said, glancing over at him. His pale blond hair was spiked up as usual and his blue eyes were sparkling. "What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Well, I was thinking that we could go out, since it'll be our 5 month anniversary." He said, glancing over and smiling at me.

"Sounds good. Do I need to dress up?"

"Yep. We are going to a nice restaurant in Port Angeles."

"Guess I have to go shopping." I mumbled.

"Don't worry; we'll have a lot of fun." He said as we pulled into the parking lot. I hopped out of the car and walked over to him. I gave him a kiss on the check and headed off to my first class.

"See you later." I called over my shoulder.

My morning passed by in a blur. As we headed into the cafeteria, I glanced towards the Cullen's table. It was a habit that I picked up and couldn't seem to get rid of it. I noticed Edward staring at me so I quickly turned my head. I had also picked up some sort of crush on Edward and whenever I saw him staring, I turned red. Mike paid for my lunch and his and we headed towards our table. I sat down next to Jessica and Angela as Mike sat down across from me.

"Hey Bella." They greeted me.

"Are you two doing anything tonight?" I asked them.

"Nope." Jessica replied.

"I don't think so. Why?" Angela asked.

"Well I need to go dress shopping and I was wondering if you guys wanted to come with me."

"Of course I'll go." Jessica said smiling.

"Sure, I just need to call my mom." Angela said.

"Why do you need a dress?" Jessica asked.

"Well, tomorrow is Mike and mine's 5 month anniversary so he's taking me to some fancy restaurant."

"That's so romantic." Jessica said as Angela nodded.

"I'm gonna go call my mom. I'll be back in a few minutes." Angela said.

"Ok. What new movies are playing this weekend?" Jessica asked. We spent the next 5 minutes talking about the new movies coming out. Angela came back and said that she could go and then lunch was over. Mike, Angela and I walked to Biology in a comfortable silence. We all went to our tables and sat down. I started drawing on my notebook when I heard someone sit down next to me.

"Hello Bella." Edward Cullen said. I glanced at him and smiled. Edward was confusing. Sometimes he talked to me and other times he ignored me. Whenever he talked to me, he usually asked me lots of questions.

"Hey Edward." I replied. We spent the rest of the period in silence. At the end of class he stood up and quickly gathered his books.

"Bye Bella. See you tomorrow." He said walking out the door. People stopped what they were doing and stared at me. I felt my face growing hot, so I looked down and gathered my books.

"I really don't like him." Mike said as we headed toward gym.

"He's perfectly harmless, Mike."

"There's something about him though, that just bugs me." He said and I could see jealousy in his eyes.

"Mike, stop worrying. I want you and not him." I said and kissed him. I pulled back and headed to the locker rooms.

Gym passed by very slowly. We were playing basketball and I managed to injure half of my team. Needless to say, most people stayed away from me. Once class ended, I headed toward my locker and got my books out. I went to the parking lot and stood by Mike's car, waiting for him to come out.

"I'm going with Jessica." I said as he walked to me.

"Why?"

"So I can go get a dress for tomorrow."

"Have fun." He said and leaned closer. He started kissing me, but I pulled back after a few seconds.

"See you tomorrow." I said and walked off to Jessica's car. I climbed into the car as Jessica pulled away.

"Do you guys need anything?" Jessica said.

"I'm good." Angela said.

"Can we go by my house real quick?" I asked.

"Sure." Jessica said and headed towards my house.

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Jessica pulled the car into a parking space and cut the engine. We slowly got out of the car and stretched.

"Let's go shopping!" Jessica shouted.

We slowly made our way toward the largest department store in Port Angeles. Inside, Jessica quickly led us over to the junior's section. She quickly walked past the aisles and rows of jeans, skirts and shirts. She finally made it to the dress section with me and Angela trailing behind her.

"Do you know what kind of dress you want?" Angela asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Well there are different types of halter dresses, strapless dresses, spaghetti strap dresses, sleeveless ones and some dresses with sleeves." Jessica said. "Do you know what color you want?"

"Why don't you let her pick out the styles she likes before she picks the color." Angela said.

"I don't want a strapless dress, sleeveless dress or a dress with sleeves." I said. "The halter dresses can't be that revealing though."

"Hmmm…" Jessica said.

"Well, let's start looking." Angela said.

We spent the next half hour picking out dresses. When we were done I had a total of 10 dresses in my arms. There were 2 blue, 1 green, 2 red, 2 black, 2 pink and 1 purple dress in my arms. They were a mixture of halter and spaghetti style dresses. The first 5 dresses I tried on were immediately cut. The next 3 were gone and then there were only 2 dresses left. There was 1 purple dress and one blue dress left. I quickly put the blue dress on.

"Well?" I asked twirling around, the soft silk material floating around me.

"The color looks good on you but the dress makes you look a bit fat." Jessica said and Angela nodded her head in agreement.

I sighed and headed back into the dressing room. All that was left was the purple dress. I slid the dress over my head and pulled it down. I made sure everything was where it belonged before I stepped out. This was by far my favorite dress. It was a halter dress and below my breasts was lace. I didn't like the lace that much because it showed part of my skin. The back of the dress was open. The dress fell a few inches in above my knee and was slightly longer in the back. Jessica and Angela gasped in surprise.

"Bella, you look great!" Jessica said.

"You have to get that one." Someone said from behind me. I saw Angela and Jessica's eyes widen in surprise. I quickly turned around and felt my mouth drop. Standing in front of me were Alice Cullen and Rosalie Hale.

"You look great." Alice said.

"Thanks, Alice." I said. Rosalie just rolled her eyes and glanced away.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's the dress for." Alice said.

"Oh. It's my boyfriend and mine's 5 month anniversary. He's taking me out somewhere special, apparently." I said flushing red.

"Well have fun I guess." Alice said as Rosalie snickered.

I briefly heard Rosalie mumble something under her breath. It sounded like 'better not tell Edward', but I wasn't sure.

"See you tomorrow Bella. Jessica, Angela." Alice said turning and dancing away with Rosalie leading her.

"Wow. That was totally random." Jessica said. "Now you have to get that dress."

"Hurry up and get changed so we can go get some shoes." Angela said. I nodded and went back into the dressing room. I came out a few minutes later, fully dressed.

"To the shoes." Jessica said and snickered. We quickly left heading towards the shoes.

"You should get a small heel, Bella. Since you trip a lot." Angela said.

"What about these?" Jessica asked, holding up a pair of white kitten heel shoes.

"These should work." I said as I sat down. Jessica handed me the shoes and I put them on.

"Walk around in them." Angela said. I got up and walked around the store, stumbling only a few times.

"I'll get these." I said and slipped the shoes off. I quickly paid for the shoes and left. We walked over to Jessica's car and took off. Jessica pulled up to a fast food restaurant and got in the drive-thru line. She ordered our food, paid and took off. We spent the drive eating, talking and listening to music. We didn't pull up to my house until 8.

"Night guys. See you tomorrow." I said as I climbed out. I went inside and glanced into the living room to see Charlie watching some game.

"Hey Bells. Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, I got a dress and shoes." I said and held up my bag.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah. I'm tired, I'm gonna go to bed."

"Night sweetie."

"Night dad." I said and climbed up the stairs to my room. I hung my dress up, put my pj's on and climbed into bed.

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I woke up in the morning, feeling excited and a bit angry. I knew that today was going to change my world, but I just didn't know how it was going to. I climbed out of my bed and headed to the bathroom. I quickly showered and changed and headed downstairs. I slowly ate my granola bar, waiting for Mike to show up. I glanced out the window and saw his car pulling up. I grabbed my stuff and headed outside. I climbed into the car and it took off.

"Hey baby." Mike said as he grabbed my hand.

"Please don't call me that." I said as I leaned my head against the window.

"Why?" Mike asked, sounding confused.

"Because I don't like that name." I said.

"Ok, I won't call you that any more." Mike said as we pulled into school. I hoped out of the car and started walking away. "Wait." I turned around and saw Mike running to me.

"Yes?"

"Is something wrong?" Mike asked.

"No, I was just thinking about something and I guess I got mad. Sorry." I said. Maybe I was just pmsing. The bell rang and I began to walk away again, but Mike grabbed my arm. I spun around, but Mike squeezed my arm tighter and tighter. "Hey! Let go, your hurting me!" I yelled. Mike instantly dropped his arm.

"Sorry."

"What's your problem?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just forget that even happened." He said and leaned down. He kissed my cheek and walked away. I stood there staring after him until the final warning bell rang and then I headed off to my class.

During lunch Mike acted like nothing had happened and he talked about what we were going to do.

"That sounds sooo romantic!" Jessica squealed. "Just wait till you see Bella's dress!"

"Yeah, she looked really pretty. I bet you'll look even prettier tonight." Angela said as I felt myself growing red.

"Is that so? Well I can't wait for tonight." Mike said and grinned at me. I just smiled and looked away. My eyes fell on the Cullen's table were I saw Alice watching me and talking to Edward. I quickly glanced away and took a sip of my water.

"We should go." I said standing up. Most of the cafeteria was deserted, and we were one of the few people still left inside.

Biology went by slowly and gym seemed to go even slower. By the end of the day, my bad mood was gone, replaced by excitement. I walked to my locker and got out my books. When I shut my locker, I noticed Alice Cullen standing next to it.

"Hi Bella." She said.

"Hi Alice. Did you need something?"

"Well, not really. I just wanted to say that you should curl your hair tonight." She said smiling at me. She must have noticed my confused expression because she continued talking. "For your date. It'll make you look even prettier."

"Oh, thanks for the advice." I said and started walking away.

"Oh, Bella!" Alice called and I turned around "Be careful." She said and walked away.

I shook my head and headed to Mike's car. He was sitting inside and as soon as I was in, he took off.

"What took so long?" He asked glancing at me.

"Oh, Alice Cullen was talking to me." I said. He drove the rest of the way in silence.

"I'll pick you up around 5." Mike said as I hopped out of the car.

"Ok." I said and shut the door. I went into the house and walked up to my room. _Great, _I thought to myself, _I have to figure out how to do my hair and make-up._ Just then my phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey Bella, its Jessica."

"Oh, hey. What's up?"

"Well I just realized that you don't wear make-up and you don't usually do much to your hair. So I was wondering do you need some help."

"That would be great." I replied.

"I'll be at your house in 10 minutes." She said and hung up.

Jessica and I spent the next 2 hours getting me ready. By the time she left, I was ready to go. We had curled my hair and left it down. Jessica had put lip gloss, black eyeliner, mascara and some pink eye shadow on. Then I put on my dress and shoes and I was done.

"Have fun." She said and then she let herself out. I walked downstairs to see that Charlie was home.

"Oh. Hey dad. I didn't know you were home." I said as I went go sit down next to him.

"Well, I just got home. I came in as Jessica was letting herself out."

"Do you know what time it is?"

"It's almost five." He said, glancing down at his watch. Then he looked up, looked at the TV, and looked at me again. "Are you and Mike going somewhere tonight?"

"Yeah, it's our 5 month anniversary." I said and then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Charlie said and got off of the couch. He stalked to the door and opened it.

"Hey Chief Swan." Mike said to Charlie.

"Hello Mike." He said and smiled. "Bella." Charlie called. I slowly stood up and walked over to the door.

"Hey Mike." I said as I grabbed a jacket.

"Be home before 11." Charlie said.

"Will do." I said and shut the door. As soon as we heard Charlie's footsteps fading away, Mike pushed me against the house.

"You look great, Bella." Mike said.

"Thanks. Are we going to go?"

"Just a minute." He whispered. He leaned his head down and pressed his lips to mine. I slowly drew back and looked at him. I ducked down and slid out of the way.

"Come on." I said and ran out to the car. Mike ran after me and we slid into the car. He started the car and sped off. We spent the car ride talking about lots of different things. We finally pulled into Port Angeles sometime after 6:30. "Italian?"

"Yes. You do like Italian. Or have you been lying to me?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I could have been lying, but I didn't. Just teasing you." I said and got out of the car. We walked hand and hind into the restaurant.

"Do you have a reservation?" The girl at the front desk asked.

"Yes. It should be under Mike Newton." He said.

"Yes. Table for 2." She said. She grabbed 2 menus and led the way into the dining section. "Here you go. Your waiter will be out shortly." She said and disappeared. A few minutes later our waiter appeared. He was 5'8, had brown hair that was curly, dark brown eyes and it looked like he worked out a lot.

"Hi, I'm Sebastian and I'll be your waiter tonight. What can I get to drink for you?" He said, turning his attention to me.

"I'll have coke." I said.

"I'll have the same." Mike said.

"Two cokes." He murmured to himself. "Do you want an appetizer to start with?"

"No thank you." Mike replied.

"Ok, I'll be right back with your drinks." He said and disappeared.

"What new movies are out?" I asked Mike.

"There are a few new thrillers out, and a new comedy, I think. And then there is the stuff that's been out for a while." Mike said.

We continued talking about movies until the waiter returned. He set down the drinks and we ordered our food. About 20 minutes later our food came. I ordered raviolis and Mike got steak. Every time that our waiter came, he focused his attention on me and ignored Mike.

"Our waiter is really starting to annoy me." Mike said while we were eating.

"Stop being jealous. I'm with you. Not him. You have nothing to worry about." I said and continued eating my food.

We finally finished our meal after what felt like hours. As we were walking out, our waiter walked right by us. As he was passing by me he stuck out his hand. He grabbed my hand and placed a note inside. I smiled at him, amused. While, he winked at me and walked on. I opened the note to see that he had scrawled his number on it. I sighed and shook my head. As we were walking to the car, I could feel Mike's rage and jealousy radiating off of him. Once we were inside the car, he let his anger out.

"What the hell was that back there?"

"What was what?" I asked confused.

"Our waiter slipping you that note. And you were smiling at him and he winked at you."

"That was nothing. He gave me his phone number."

"Damn it Bella. Don't lie to me!" He yelled.

"I didn't do anything! I thought it was funny!" I yelled back.

Mike yelled some profanities and then it happened.

The start of my world crashing around me.

The very beginning of all of the problems he gave me.

The end of my somewhat happy life.

He raised his arm and slapped me. And then he did it 2 more times. Tears were streaming down my face. My body hurt from the strength he used.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?!?" I shouted.

As he raised his arm again, I opened the door and rolled out. I got up as fast as I could and I ran. I ran and ran and ran. Pretty soon I was lost in the streets of Port Angeles. I started wandering around and pretty soon I found myself outside of the department store where I bought my dress. I sat down and started crying all over again. I felt someone approach me, but I didn't look up.

"Bella?" Someone asked. I glanced up and saw Edward.

"Oh, hey Edward."

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"No I'm not." I said slowly. And then to my embarrassment I burst into tears again. Edward seemed a bit confused, but he ended up patting my back and saying soothing things.

"Do you need a ride?" I nodded my head.

He helped me stand up and then I fell over. Running around and getting beaten had drained the energy out of me. He picked me up and cradled me to his chest. As we passed by the rows of cars, I stared into their windows, seeing my reflection.

My make-up was smeared all over my face and my hair was a mess. My dress was dirty and torn in a few places. My brand new white shoes were dirty. I glanced at us in the reflections now. I wondered what we looked like to people. What did they see? Did they see a couple in us? Did they think I was drunk?

All I saw was a dirty, average girl in a fancy dress. A boy who was inhumanly pale and beautiful. A boy that was dressed casually. That same boy protecting and taking care of the frail girl in his arms.

We made it to the car and Edward placed me into his silver Volvo. I never in a million years would have thought that this would be happening. Edward acted like I didn't exist. He sometimes said hello to me, but that was it. He didn't like me. And here he was, taking care of me. A part of me was wondering if this was a joke to him. But the other part was grateful that he was here.

"Why are you here?" I asked as we left Port Angeles.

"What do you mean?" He asked startled.

"I mean why are you in Port Angeles."

"Oh. I had to pick up something for Alice."

"That's nice." I murmured and then it was silent. After driving in silence for a while I glanced outside. We were halfway to Forks already and we had only been driving for a short amount of time.

"If you don't mind me asking, why were you crying and all alone."

"It's…complicated. I'd rather not talk about it."

"That's fine." He said and stopped talking. We rode in silence the rest of the way. As we pulled up to my house, I started to panic. What was Charlie going to say once he saw me? Edward must have noticed my nervousness because he started talking again. "Don't worry. The lights are off."

"Ok." I said and opened the door.

"Bella?" Edward said. I turned around. "I have a feeling that you were upset because of Mike. I think that you should stop seeing him. I know it's none of my business but you might want to look at your arms. You should probably put your jacket on too." Edward said and his hands tightened on the wheel. He started to get angrier and angrier.

I glanced down at my arms. Sure enough, there were bruises starting to form. "Thank you Edward. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."

"Your welcome. You should probably go." He said. I nodded and exited the car. As I got out, I noticed that Edward looked like he could kill something. When I was more then halfway to the house I heard the widow roll down.

"Bella. Please take my advice." Edward called. I nodded and kept on walking. I went inside and locked the door. All of the lights were out, but Charlie was sitting in the living room watching TV.

"I'm going to bed dad." I said.

"Ok. Did you have fun?" He asked.

"I'll tell you about it tomorrow." I walked up the stairs and into my room. I flung my shoes off and took off my dress. I threw my dress to the floor and put some pjs on. I curled into my bed and let the tears fall again and before I knew it I was asleep.

I just wish that I had taken Edward's advice. If I did I wouldn't have had to go through what I did.

_Do you feel like a man when you push her around?  
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?  
Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end  
as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found._

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There you go. I finally wrote about her getting beaten. Now the rest of the story will be really good. So if anyone would like to know, this was 12 pages long on word. This is the biggest chapter I have ever written, so I'm really happy right now. I don't know when the next update will be, but it should be soon hopefully. There are like 3 or 4 chapters left I think. The link for the dress is in my profile.

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

- Alicia


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- I don't own anything in this story, except for the plot. Oh and I don't own the lyrics either.

Thank you for the reviews! You all rock! I've finally updated after I don't know how long, and its been a year since I've started this and there's only 3 chapters…pathetic. Sorry for the delay in updates, but I've been busy, as you know if you read my news section and the author notes. Started a new story too. That was a dumb mistake. Anyways here's chapter 3. Review and enjoy!

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I spent the weekend in holed up in my house. More specifically, in my bed. On Saturday morning Charlie came in to check on me and tell me he was going fishing for the weekend. I just nodded and said goodbye to him. As soon as he was gone, I went back to sleep. Actually, that's how I spent my entire weekend. I slept and ate ice cream.

I avoided the phone and computer at all costs. Whenever the phone rang I would go downstairs and screen the calls. The only time I answered was when Charlie called to check up on me. He could tell that something was wrong, but he never asked. Mike called me more than a billion times and if it wasn't for Charlie, the phone would have been disconnected after the third call.

When school finally came on Monday, I stayed home. I told Charlie that I wasn't feeling well, so he said I could stay home and rest. This time when the phone rang, Charlie answered. Mike called at the very least five times and Jessica called me once. When Charlie said that Mike was on the phone I told him to tell Mike that I wasn't feeling well, so I didn't feel like talking. He told that to Mike every time and Jessica too. When Mike called on Tuesday morning, I had Charlie tell him that he didn't need to pick me up at all anymore.

I finally went to school on Thursday. I didn't want to go, but I had to. I got to school with a few minutes to spare. I carefully avoided Mike the entire day. During English, I slipped inside at the last possible second and sat in the back. Mike was all the way in the front, so I didn't have to worry about him bugging me, although he did keep on glancing at me. During lunch, I ate inside the library by myself. Angela wandered in there halfway through lunch and sat down with me. We sat in silence until the bell rang.

That was the thing I liked about Angela, she didn't mind long periods of silences. She also knew when to talk and when not to.

Before we walked into Biology, she stopped me.

"You know that if you want to talk, I'm here for you," she said as her eyes searched my face.

"I know. Thanks," I said as we walked in. Edward was already at our table and when I saw him, my heart started beating fast. He looked up at me as I sat down.

"Hello Bella," he said giving me a heart stopping smile. I forgot how to breathe for a few seconds.

"Hi," I replied with a small smile.

Edward looked up and glared at something behind me. I nearly cried when I realized who it was.

"Bella," he said and stopped. When I turned to face him he continued talking. "We really need to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you," I said glaring at him.

"Cullen, do you mind?" he asked glaring at Edward.

Edward merely smirked at him. His eyes were black and dangerous when he talked to Mike. "I believe Bella doesn't want to talk to you. If I were you, I'd move along."

Mike gave me a helpless look. "Meet me after school by my car so we can talk."

"No."

At that moment class started and Mike was forced to go back to his seat. I let out a big sigh and turned to Edward.

"Thank you for that."

"It was my pleasure," he said as his eyes returned to their normal color.

By the end of the day I was exhausted and wanted to go home. I wanted to eat more ice cream and get really fat so everyone would leave me alone. Unfortunately for me, that would never happen.

I stepped out of the girl's bathroom and into the deserted hallway. I'd spent 30 minutes in the bathroom waiting for everyone to be gone so that I wouldn't have to face Mike. I walked quickly to my locker and pulled out the things I needed. As I was about to close it, someone's arm shot out and closed it.

"I thought you left already," he said.

"I obviously didn't."

Moron, I thought to myself.

"Now we have the perfect place to talk."

"I don't want to talk."

"Please Bella; you have to let me explain. If you still hate me I'll leave you alone."

"Do you promise?" I asked him.

"Promise." Mike said. "Let's go somewhere else; I don't want someone to overhear us."

I made the stupid mistake of following him. We walked over to the trees and sat down on the bench.

"Alright. Talk," I said not looking at him.

"My childhood is a bit hard to remember, but that's when all the problems started. Everyone's always liked my parents; they get along with everyone. My mother always understood me best, but my father…he…isn't cut out to be a parent. He's always been angry but no one ever sees it; he's good at hiding it. When he drinks too much alcohol, he gets really angry.

"There was this one time when I was eight and I had accidentally spilt a bottle of red wine over some of his papers. He was mad but he sent me off to my mother and told me not to come back. I thought that I'd gotten out of trouble. But I woke up in the middle of the night and he was standing over the bed. He started yelling at me and next thing I know he's hitting me. My mom woke up from my screaming and calmed my father down. He left the room and my mother slept with me that night.

"After that it was pretty much a routine. He started hitting my mother too, after awhile. When we left California I thought that was the end but it wasn't. He still does it now but it doesn't happen very often."

"I'm…sorry," I said as he stopped talking. He nodded but wouldn't meet my eyes.

"I'm really sorry Bella. That night at dinner…I just….snapped. There is no excuse for my behavior." He said and looked down.

I sealed my fate then. I could have run screaming from him, but I didn't. Instead I picked up his hand and turned his face to me.

"Do you promise to never do it again?" I asked looking at his eyes.

"I promise."

If I had looked carefully at his eyes I might have noticed a glimmer of darkness there. But I didn't notice it. All I saw was love in his eyes and the way they sparkled as he brought his face down and kissed me.

_A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect  
every action in this world will bear a consequence  
If you wade around forever, you will surely drown  
I see what's going down.  
_

* * *

Ummmm, yes. I've finally updated…feel free to gasp. Chapter was pretty short, but I really couldn't think of anything. How many say the thing with Mike's dad coming? I don't if the way I wrote it is realistic, so if you don't think so tell me and I'll attempt to fix it. No idea when the next chapter will be up; it won't take as long though. Chapter is unedited because I don't have time and I haven't talked to my normal editor in over a year. I will edit it eventually, don't worry. Reviews are appreciated.

- Alicia


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